Underground Drabbles
by Nonsense-Shit
Summary: Drabbles of 'Underground Desire'
1. Chapter 1

Pammazola - I want to make a request. You've done short haired Armin. How about long haired Petra now? =]

* * *

"That will be $45, ma'am."

Hanji handed a fifty over to the cute cashier, "Keep the change and your looks. Your previous glasses looked nasty." She made a face.

The young brunette blushed a little and said a small _thanks_; he didn't think anyone paid attention to him when he looks so plain and... plain.

Hanji and Petra walked out of the convenience store, hands full of groceries bags filled with tonight's dinner ingredients. No thanks to the sudden outburst from Hanji, they agreed to have the small gathering in Petra's lovely apartment; which Petra didn't have a say in it even though the lease was under her name.

Since Hanji oh-so-happily volunteered her place, Petra requested very sweetly that she should be the one to accompany her to buy the food and help her prepare dinner; no way in hell would Petra let the culprit slip away under her size three foot.

After the initial grumbling and weak protesting groaning from the normally-zealous brunette, Hanji turned into an excited little kid who had been cooped up in the house for five days straight. From grabbing every snack in the snack aisle – she totally left the dinner ingredients to Petra because she can only cook to poison someone – to skipping merrily down the street while on their short walk back to the short woman's home, Petra felt like she had adopted a kid whose soul was trapped in an adult's body; the only thing missing was the twirling skirt and cheerful _good afternoon, sir_ to passer-bys.

This is the first time Hanji's been to Petra apartment totally sober; previous occasions too horrifying to mention. Petra headed to the kitchen to start preparing the meal they all look forward too. Out of their mini group, Petra is the only one who could properly cook; cook non-microwavable food, because the rest of them are only experts at utilising that certain piece modern cooking technology, and the god-sent coffee machine.

Hanji made herself at home; flopping belly-first onto the couch, her shin hit the armrest.

"Petraaaaaa! Why is your couch so short?! My shin hurts and it's all your fault."

Having no idea what the mad woman was complaining about, she peeked her tiny head out of the kitchen doorway to see the graceful position Hanji had put herself into.

"Good." She retreated back into her mini heaven.

Struggling to turn her head to get a proper look, she craned her neck to unbelievable angles. White translucent curtains swaying with the breeze, a rattan swing chair in the corner with a small red cushion in it, a few fake potted plants – definitely fake because Petra baby has purple thumbs and toes. Taking everything in like the over-inquisitive being she is, she spotted something out of place; a photo frame faced down.

Hanji's curiousity went into overdrive so much that she forced her languid body up and walked over to the item that caught her attention. Flipping the frame up, she saw something she'd never seen before; Petra as a child with her dad.

"I see you leave no things unturned." Petra walked in, bringing a cup of 'Petra's homemade brew of caffeine made with love' with her.

"It's a nice picture. I've never seen you so carefree before; and never with hair so long." Hanji scrutinized every single detail.

"I was carefree, but only for that moment." She paused, memories coming back to her; it's been so long since she last seen that photo.

"Sorry if I'm nosy but may I ask what happened?" For once, Hanji was polite; Petra thought she would be shocked but at this point of life, nothing shocks her anymore.

"My mum left us the next day, turned out she had an affair with some guy for quite a while; even bore a son." She huffed out a laughter with no humour. "Dad was heartbroken of course, he almost suffered a heart attack because of it. And because I looked exactly like my mum, hair and all, I reminded him too much of her betrayal. One day he couldn't take it anymore and killed himself. Since then, I chopped my hair off, changed my hairstyle to the one you see now; I even wore colour contacts for a while but it sucked so I gave up on it."

Hanji was silent while Petra revealed her past, she'd thought Petra grew up quite normally unlike her. _Everyone has their own past._

"Oh well." The honey-haired woman stood up, "I'd better start cooking now before the food reincarnates." She may be wearing a smile but Hanji was sharp, she could detect the mild-but-present shakiness in her voice.

"Let me help you. I know I may end up adding sugar instead of salt into the soup but, I will never leave you; unless I go to the toilet or something." Hanji walked over and looped her arm over her bestie's shoulder, a genuine smile on her face instead of the loopy, maniacal usual.

"If you add sugar, _I_ will be the one leaving you."


	2. Chapter 2

Written for emilykochva ~

* * *

It was closing time. While the girls were finishing up clearing the tables and tidying up the store, Petra was in her office, counting the sales and going through various feedback forms customers had taken the time to fill out after their meal.

Most of it were praises for their excellent service and food, promising they will come back for another meal in the near future. And there are a few suggestions. It ranges from _can your waitresses wear short skirts or maid outfits while working?_ to _I saw there was another type of tableware that suits your store! You can check it out at XXX._

While Petra tends to keep every suggestion in mind, she loved to look out for new recipes. Especially ones that were introduced by customers because then, she would know exactly what they are looking for.

_I love your lemon meringue pie to the max! It's the best I have ever tasted. But I did notice that is the only food that has a lemony flavour. Perhaps you could add more of those stuff?_

Petra had thought about this before but wasn't sure how well it would go; after all, not many people like sour food unless they are pregnant. _Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to try_, she thought, and set out to find a recipe that would burst everybody's taste buds, figuratively.

* * *

While it is alright to go grocery shopping with a companion, Petra finds peace when she goes alone. Nobody to pull her sleeve, bugging her to buy that pack of sweet and a lot more junk.

"Stupid Hanji." She muttered.

Dumping a packet of lemons into her basket, already filled with her personal groceries, Petra walked down the 'Bakery Stuff' aisle, wondering if she should grab another pack of flour here or just swipe some from the store.

Passing by a young man who didn't seem to have a clue what he was doing, she spotted him scratching his head and peered into his basket; and spotted all sorts of flour there was. You name it, he probably has it.

"God damn it." He cursed under his breath.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly, not wanting to startle the blond who was only a little taller than she was.

The guy turned around, eyes widened as if he got caught swearing while having his hand in the cookie jar. _Nice eyes_, she noted.

"Er.. Uhm.. Actually, I... I don't think I am." He stuttered, embarrassed that a pretty lady was talking to him while he was not in his best state

"What help do you need, ..." She trailed off.

"Armin, ma'am, My name is Armin." He held his hand out.

"I'm Petra. Nice to meet you, Armin. What are you baking?"

"Uhm, a pound cake."

"That's a good recipe to start with, since this is your first time." She commented.

"How did you know?!" He asked, a little shocked that she knew of his dilemma.

"Well, for starters, nobody gets all the flours available unless they know what they are looking for. And also, you scratching your head was a pretty good indication there." She smiled, while looking through his basket, finding what to place back and what to keep.

Armin smiled sheepishly, scratching his head again while mentally going _oops, busted_.

"Ok, I have sorted out your stuff. Place these back," She points a huge pile, "And we will have to find a substitute for the butter. You've got the wrong one." Petra winked playfully at the horrified look on his face.

"Oh my god. I can solve all kind of maths questions but I'm absolutely hopeless at this."

Armin placed the unwanted goods back to their original shelves while Petra observed him. Taking their time to walk to the refrigerated shelves, Petra grabbed the butter for him since he didn't know which was good.

"Why are you baking? I mean, you've said you are hopeless at this but still bought all the stuff." She said while they were queuing up at the cashier.

"Well, no thanks to the 'Truth or Dare' game I've played, my worthless friends dared me to bake a cake to give to a certain girl. All I foresee is getting a faceful of cake." Armin huffed a resigned sigh. He was not looking forward to actually baking the damn cake, and certainly not looking forward to getting captured on screen while he gives the cake to the target.

"I'm sure it will turn out all right, for the cake. Just don't replace the vanilla extract with vinegar and it should be just fine. But for the girl part, good luck, buddy." Petra felt a little pity for the cutie, she wouldn't mind accepting the cake if it's from a handsome guy like him.

Bidding their goodbyes after paying their stuff, they walked in different directions. Petra smirked while thinking about how cute Void's strategist is while Armin thought of how short Vogel's senior really was.


End file.
